Through the Eras

TheaterDRAMA AND RITUAL IN THE COFFIN TEXTSINTRODUCTION: The French Egyptologist Emile Drioton regardedCoffin Text Spell 148 as the written evidence fora drama involving the goddess Isis, her child Horus, andthe father of the gods, Geb. Scribes wrote Coffin Textson the interiors of Egyptian coffins beginning in the FirstIntermediate Period (2130–2008 B.C.E.) and throughoutthe Middle Kingdom (2008–1630 B.C.E.); Egyptologistsunderstand them as part of the funerary ritual. The narrativein Drioton’s opinion constitutes stage directionswhile the speeches represent dialogue. This spell refersto the gods’ reaction when Isis learns that she has becomepregnant posthumously with Osiris’ child. The childHorus was destined to become the next legitimate kingof Egypt. This story is basic to the political legitimacy ofeach Egyptian king. It remains doubtful whether this textwas enacted as a ritual drama.The lightning flash strikes, the gods are afraid, Isiswakes pregnant with the seed of her brother Osiris. She isuplifted, (even she) the widow, and her heart is glad withthe seed of her brother Osiris. She says: “O you gods, I amIsis, the sister of Osiris, who wept for the father of thegods, (even) Osiris who judged the slaughterings of theTwo Lands. His seed is within my womb, I have mouldedthe shape of the god within the egg as my son who is atthe head of the Ennead. What he shall rule is this land,the heritage of his (grand-)father Geb, what he shall sayis concerning his father, what he shall kill is Seth the enemyof his father Osiris. Come, you gods, protect himwithin my womb, for he is known in your hearts. He isyour lord, this god who is in his egg, blue-haired of form,lord of the gods, and great and beautiful are the vanes ofthe two blue plumes.”“Oh!” says Atum, “guard your heart, O woman!”“How do you know? He is the god, lord and heir ofthe Ennead, who made you within the egg. I am Isis, onemore spirit-like and august than the gods; the god is withinthis womb of mine and he is the seed of Osiris.”Then says Atum: “You are pregnant and you arehidden, O girl! You will give birth, being pregnant for thegods, seeing that(?) he is the seed of Osiris. May that villainwho slew his father not come, lest he break the egg in itsearly stages, for the Great-of-Magic will guard against him.”Thus says Isis: “Hear this, you gods, which Atum, Lordof the Mansion of the Sacred Images, has said. He hasdecreed for me protection for my son within my womb,he has knit together an entourage about him within thiswomb of mine, for he knows that he is the heir of Osiris,and a guard over the Falcon who is in this womb of minehas been set by Atum, Lord of the gods. Go up on earth,that I may give you praise. The retainers of your fatherOsiris will serve you, I will make your name, for you havereached the horizon, having passed by the battlements ofthe Mansion of Him whose name is hidden. Strength hasgone up within my flesh, power has reached into my flesh,power has reached.…”“ … who conveys the Sunshine-god, and he hasprepared his own place, being seated at the head of thegods in the entourage of the Releaser(?).”“O Falcon, my son Horus, dwell in this land of yourfather Osiris in this your name of Falcon who is on thebattlements of the Mansion of Him whose name is hidden.I ask that you shall be always in the suite of Re of thehorizon in the prow of the primeval bark for ever andever” …Isis goes down to the Releaser(?) who brings Horus,for Isis has asked that he may be the Releaser(?) as theleader of eternity.“See Horus, you gods! I am Horus, the Falcon who ison the battlements of the Mansion of Him whose nameis hidden. My flight aloft has reached the horizon, I haveoverpassed the gods of the sky, I have made my positionmore prominent than that of the Primeval Ones. TheContender has not attained my first flight, my place is farfrom Seth, the enemy of my father Osiris. I have used theroads of eternity to the dawn, I go up in my flight, andthere is no god who can do what I have done. I am aggressiveagainst the enemy of my father Osiris, he having beenset under my sandals in this my name of … I am Horus,born of Isis, whose protection was made within the egg;the fiery blast of your mouth does not attack me, andwhat you may say against me does not reach me, I amHorus, more distant of place than men or gods; I amHorus son of Isis.”SOURCE: “Spell 148,” in Spells 1–354. Vol. I of The AncientEgyptian Coffin Texts. Trans. Raymond O. Faulkner (Warminster,England: Aris and Phillips, Ltd., 1973): 125–126.came to this conclusion based on the existence of dialoguesthrough which the gods give speeches and othersreply. Again he used the formula “words spoken by …”to recognize the dialogue. The text also contains somefree spaces and squares that Sethe believed divided thetext. Other commentary on the Shabaka Stone, however,has suggested that the gods’ dialogue only reinforcesideas in a philosophical treatise. The major themes ofthe text concern the gods Horus and Seth quarreling overwhich is the rightful heir to Osiris, the first EgyptianArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 257